Together We Stand, Divided We Fall
by youreconfusingme
Summary: When changes happen one after another, will the team - especially Calleigh Duquesne and Eric Delko - be able to get through them? After all, goodbyes do not always mean it's the end...right?
1. Prologue

**Author's Note: **Hello there! I finally have time to write again, what with all this waiting for responses to my job applications. And I am back with a remake of "Together We Stand, Divided We Fall"! This work has been left lying around for _ages, _and I finally decided to give it a shot again after a reader requested for a follow-up.

I thought you should know why I wrote this story in the first place. I was going through something at that time, and, well, it translated into my work. I cringed at some parts of my original version (and at some of my earlier stories posted here in FF, mind you!), but I pray I won't be doing the same with this one!

Anyway, I have deleted the original version. This time, I made sure I had all the chapters planned out before reposting a remake. Hopefully, this version will be better than the other one. Please excuse the inconsistencies I might make when it comes to some parts of this story, like events that happened on the TV series. The characters might become OOC at some point as well.

**Disclaimer: **I do not own CSI: Miami, or any of its characters, and some parts of this tale's plot which were lifted from the TV series.

* * *

**Together We Stand, Divided We Fall**

**Prologue**

* * *

_You can't keep denying it, Calleigh. You might be able to put on a happy façade in front of your team, but face it. Eric is leaving, you're broken, and there's nothing you can do about it._

Calleigh Duquesne smiled as she raised her glass along with her team in response to Jesse Cardoza's toast to honor Eric Delko's new career.

"Cheers!"

Warm smiles were casted around the room, light laughter issuing after their toast. Everyone has come to terms with Eric's decision to pursue a new career as a private investigator. Everyone, that is, except Calleigh.

She was still nursing her hurt over Eric's decision to leave. She retreated to the far corner of the room, pretending to be in deep thought over choosing between a muffin and a doughnut.

_Right after…without even…_

Incoherent thoughts ran through her head as she tried to keep her mind on the party at hand. No one seemed to mind her, and she didn't exactly mind anyone save for the guest of honor who was laughing together with Jesse and Ryan Wolfe in the middle of the room.

* * *

Calleigh didn't know how she survived the party without breaking down and asking Eric the million questions running through her head. But at last, the gathering broke up, and one by one their colleagues left. Calleigh stayed behind, waiting for Eric to finish talking to Horatio Caine.

When they were done, Horatio gave Calleigh an encouraging smile, and left without a word. She sidled up to Eric's side as he packed his things up and casually asked, "Can I walk with you to your car?"

Eric, startled to see that she and Calleigh were alone in the room, silently nodded his assent.

They walked the halls of the Miami-Dade Crime Laboratory together for the last time. Was it just Calleigh, or was the silence of the starting night shift in the Crime Lab nearly unbearable? She hadn't remembered it to be quite so.

Finally, they got out of the door where Eric's car was parked. Calleigh watched him put his things inside.

_What went wrong, Eric? Was what I did for you not enough to make you stay? _Calleigh silently wondered if she will ever get the answers to her questions.

Eric turned to her and searched her despondent eyes. As if reading her thoughts, Eric said, "It's not your fault, Calleigh. Not at all. But…you know what I went through. I can't…I'm afraid I can't be in the same place where it all happened. I loved her more than anyone else. I don't expect you to understand. But I would appreciate your support to my decision."

_How can I understand when you haven't given me the chance to? _Calleigh wanted to retort. But somehow, she knew he did not want to be shaken from his decision. This kept Calleigh from saying anything.

"I have to go now. Please take care of yourself," Eric turned away from her.

Calleigh could feel her eyes starting to sting. She lifted a hand to touch his back, but then drew it away. She wanted to put her arms around him. Her mind suddenly flashbacked to that day when he locked her in his embrace after her frightening brush with criminals. How comforted she felt that day. But now, she felt empty and cold.

Eric started to get into his car. "Good bye, Eric," she whispered as she stared at his back. He never turned back to her again as he started his car and drove away.

And there, alone in front of the Crime Lab building at dusk, Calleigh finally let her tears fall for the man she loved, who also left her eventually.

* * *

**A/N #2: **Please share your thoughts about this tale with me! :)


	2. Chapter 1: Changes

**A/N: **Yep, I decided to post the first chapter along with the Prologue. So here it is. :)

**Disclaimer: **I do not own CSI: Miami, or any of its characters, and some parts of this tale's plot which were lifted from the TV series.

* * *

**Together We Stand, Divided We Fall**

**Chapter One: Changes**

* * *

It's amazing how swiftly our circumstances change. It's even more terrifying to think that death can come at a few precious seconds, but the process of moving on takes so much longer than that.

Calleigh Duquesne decided to pause from her morbid musings. She was standing in front of a quaint two-story house in the suburbs of Miami. A report had come in, telling the Miami-Dade Crime Laboratory of a dead body being found in a house that was locked from the inside.

Calleigh looked around and observed the quiet community where the crime had taken place. All the houses looked so formal, and there were hardly any people out in the streets, not even children, on a fine summer day. Natalia Boa Vista, her colleague, had come up beside her, echoing her thoughts out loud.

"Everything seems so proper that you wouldn't expect something as scandalous as this to happen in their community."

"You're right," she agreed. "Let's go in and help Ryan out."

Together, the two women crossed under the yellow police line tape and went inside the house. They found Ryan Wolfe crouched beside the dead body—a young boy who looked not older than six years old. Alexx Woods, their Medical Examiner, was looking the boy over.

"This baby boy right here was choked to death," she murmured.

"Can we identify the fingerprints on his neck?" Natalia asked.

Ryan answered, "Nope. I already checked it. The one who strangled him wore gloves."

Calleigh set to examine the front door, and Natalia went to check the windows. After a while, the four of them finished their investigation. They packed up their evidences and drove back to the Laboratory.

* * *

When they went inside the Miami-Dade Crime Lab, Alexx bid them good bye as she headed for the autopsy room. Calleigh, Ryan, and Natalia went to the elevator. They continued their light chatter until they rounded the corner to their laboratory stations.

The two women were following Ryan, and when he suddenly stopped, they nearly bumped into him.

"What was that for, Ryan?" Natalia asked, surprised.

"Look who's back from Rio," Ryan answered silently.

The two women peered around Ryan and indeed, they saw Lieutenant Horatio Caine sitting behind his office desk, clearly back from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

_That means Eric must be back, too. So where is he? _Calleigh wondered.

* * *

"It's good to see you back, H," Ryan greeted Horatio as he checked up on them in one of the laboratory stations.

"Suck-up," Walter Simmons commented jokingly. "Just kidding. We're all relieved you're back, H. Where's Delko?"

"He's at his house…recovering," Horatio answered, somewhat distractedly. "What case are you handling?"

"A little boy who was choked to death inside their locked home in the suburbs. Calleigh and Natalia are working on Trace right now, and Wolfe was just about to get Alexx's evidences," Jesse Cardoza answered, bringing their boss up-to-speed with their latest case.

"Great. I'm going to check on the women now." With that, Horatio left them.

The men exchanged glances when he walked away. "Was Horatio replaced by a clone in Rio?" Walter wondered. Jesse punched him in the arm and shook his head. Ryan shrugged and went to see Alexx.

When Horatio walked in the room where Calleigh and Natalia were working, he found them hunched over minute traces recovered from the house.

Calleigh looked up at the sound of Horatio entering the room. "Hey handsome. Welcome back!" She beamed up at him.

"Hey H," Natalia greeted, her eyes glued to the microscope.

"What have we got so far?"

"Well, the boy was choked by gloved hands. There was no sign of forced entry in the house," Calleigh answered. "Where's Eric?"

Horatio avoided looking her in the eye. He knew she cared about his brother-in-law more than anyone else in the team.

"He's fine. But he's staying home today…to recoup. We got in last evening."

Calleigh was silent as she took his words in. Finally, she asked silently, "Horatio, what happened in Rio?"

Natalia took her eyes off the microscope for the first time since Horatio entered the room and peered up at him curiously.

"He's…he's dead. Riaz is dead," Horatio said bluntly.

"And how did that happen?" Calleigh asked cautiously. She could tell Horatio was in discomfort.

He looked Calleigh in the eye. "I killed him."

Shock registered in Calleigh and Natalia's faces. Natalia straightened up, but Calleigh kept her eyes locked with Horatio's.

"There's something more. What else happened?"

"He also killed Ray. Riaz killed my brother."

* * *

Calleigh, Natalia, Ryan, Jesse, Walter, and Alexx had gathered in the pantry for a coffee break. Since Horatio was nowhere to be found, they decided to go on their own.

"I can't believe all those things happened in Rio," Alexx was saying. The two other women had just finished telling the group what Horatio divulged earlier. Calleigh and Natalia decided to tell the others what had happened after the men asked why Horatio did not seem like himself.

Everyone knew Eric and Horatio followed Antonio Riaz to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, to avenge the death of Marisol Delko-Caine, Eric's sister and Horatio's wife. Marisol's demise was, admittedly, expected to happen in the near future because of her leukemia. But what everyone did not expect was to have her die at the arms of her husband with bullet wounds through her body.

Now Horatio lost not only his wife, but also his brother Ray, who was supposed to be starting on a new life with his wife and son in Brazil. And Eric lost the only family he had.

"It might not be a good idea for him to start working right away," Natalia remarked.

"Horatio can handle himself. He'll stop if he knows he can't work properly. As it is, working might be his only way to distract himself…" Calleigh defended their boss.

_I'm more worried right now about Eric, _Calleigh thought. She knew that if Eric could not come to work, it only meant that he's too spent to do so. _Eric would never skive off his job._

"So what do we do, pretend like nothing happened?" Ryan asked.

"I don't know," sighed Calleigh. "I can't even pretend to understand what Eric and Horatio went through."

"If it were me I would prefer it if people don't talk or look at me any differently than before. It's not as if their pity can bring back the loved ones I lost," said Jesse.

"He's got a point," Walter said.

"Horatio and Eric need us now more than ever. We can't leave them alone or let them down. We just need to be their friends." With that, Alexx put the conversation to a close.

* * *

That night, Calleigh decided to check up on Eric.

_Please let him pick up, _she thought silently. Just as she was about to hang up and try again, Eric answered the phone.

"Hello?" He sounded disconcerted, as if he was woken from a deep sleep.

Calleigh inwardly cursed herself for bothering him. "Eric? Hey, it's me. It's Calleigh."

"Hey Cal." He sounded relieved to hear her voice. Calleigh took it as a good sign.

"How are you doing? I missed you at work today. Horatio said you arrived last night."

"Yeah, well, jetlag took its toll on me…"

Sensing he wanted to avoid answering her question, Calleigh changed the topic.

"We solved a murder case today involving a little boy living in the suburbs. He was killed in their house that was locked from the inside. No one broke in."

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah. Turns out it was an inside job. Their family is rather affluent, and their housekeeper took advantage of her employers' trust. Let the burglars in while she thought the boy was taking his nap. When the boy found them and shouted for help, they strangled him."

"Poor boy."

"Indeed." Calleigh paused. She already felt that he lost his usual enthusiasm for their cases. "Do you want to go out for a cup of coffee tomorrow? It's our day off, after all…"

It took Eric a while to answer as he considered her offer. He did want to see Calleigh badly. But he was also not ready to go back and face the world again.

_Not after what they'd done to my sister._

Marisol was the only family Eric had. He loved her more than anyone else, and did everything to keep her alive, even risking his own job and freedom just to see her get better from her leukemia.

_And now she's dead. After all the effort I put in for her, she still wound up dead, _Eric thought angrily.

At last his desire for Calleigh's company won out. He needed a little ray of sunshine, and only Calleigh can give it to him.

"Sure." Calleigh could imagine his small smile as he answered. She was relieved he said yes.

"Great! Let's meet at Sidewood tomorrow, four in the afternoon," Calleigh responded enthusiastically.

"All right. See you, Cal."

"I'll see you there, handsome."

* * *

The next afternoon could not have come by faster for Calleigh. All she wanted was to see how Eric was doing, to comfort him the way he had done for her so many times in the past.

She was not able to concentrate on her exercise or her chores the whole day. When her clock struck 3.45, she finally went on her way to Sidewood, a small café near their workplace introduced to her by Alexx.

She arrived five minutes before 4 o'clock. Eric was not there yet, so she chose a seat near the back to provide them some privacy. At exactly 4 o'clock, Eric opened the door to the café. Calleigh saw him enter and observed that dark circles were under his eyes that swept around the café to look for her.

When he spotted Calleigh, Eric smiled slightly at the sight of her. He could hardly believe that just the sight of her can put his anxieties on ease.

"Hey," he greeted lightly as he sat down.

"Hey yourself," Calleigh smiled. She could not help noticing how handsome he still looked even though he was obviously worn.

"Have you ordered anything yet?" Eric asked.

"No, I just got here. What do you want? It's my treat."

"Calleigh, you don't have to do that," Eric smiled despite himself.

"I know. But it's the least I can do…" Calleigh let herself trail off. Both were silent for a moment until a waiter materialized beside their table.

"What can I get you guys?" Roberto—according to his nametag—asked.

"A cappuccino for me," answered Calleigh.

"Same here," Eric nodded at the waiter.

"All right. I'll be back with your cups shortly." Both watched the waiter walk away. When he finally got to the counter, Eric turned to Calleigh.

"About the case yesterday, how did the boy's parents take it?" he asked.

Calleigh looked at him sadly. "He was their only child. His mother nearly passed out when I broke the news to them. It was not any less bearable compared to others we had in the past…"

Wishing to leave the awkward silence that befell on them, Calleigh steered the topic to the man in front of her.

"How are _you, _Eric? I must confess, I invited you here to ask you that question. We've all seen Horatio yesterday, and, well, suffice it to say that he had been distracted."

Eric looked at her wearily. "I'm as well as you can expect a man who has just lost his sister to a gang of syndicates to be."

Calleigh fell silent. She had expected Eric to answer this way. She knew it was not going to be easy to get him to share with her the personal battle he was going through. She had long suspected that one of the most—if not the most—traumatic events that a person can go through is the loss of his loved ones.

"I'm not going to force you to open up right away. But you know that you can talk to me or to any of us at the Lab about what you're going through. We might not understand completely, but we're worth a shot," Calleigh finally said after a long silence.

Their cups had been brought over by the waiter. Eric tried to hide his face behind his cup and avoided Calleigh's stare. He knew his anguish was visible in his features. But Calleigh continued to peer at him over her own cup, her eyes full of compassion.

When Eric finally lowered his cup, Calleigh did the same. He reached out for her hand across the table and wrapped it around his own.

"Thank you," he whispered, despair seeping between the two heartfelt words.

Calleigh squeezed his hand in reassurance and tried to smile at him. "I'm always here for you."

* * *

Horatio trudged up his driveway to his front door. He took an extra shift today in an attempt to get his mind off his losses.

_No amount of paperwork or cases can fill up the holes in your heart, you know, _Horatio's mind whispered to him. He snorted. That much he knew. But it was worth a shot. He did not know what else to do to keep the pain at bay.

He had only slept for two hours, despite his jetlag. Gruesome images he would rather forget kept on playing in his mind over and over.

_Face it, Caine. You're alone. You have no family, and your friends are too caught up with their own lives to slow their pace down for you._

When he finally crossed the threshold, he looked around his home. He had thought that he would soon be sharing this house with his wife. A pang of pain pierced his heart and twisted his stomach.

He slowly ascended the stairs, in desperate need of a warm bath. Once he settled into his bathtub, he tried to concentrate on the relief that washed over his body. He sat there, going over and over a new mantra he had just made up: Keep yourself in check. Keep the pain at bay.

After a while, Horatio changed into more comfortable clothes. The silence that followed nightfall did not escape him. It was awfully quiet in his house.

Thinking that his body was finally too exhausted to rehash the deaths of his wife and brother, he crawled into bed and succumbed to slumber.

Five hours later, he was jerked awake from his nightmare. Though he made no sound, he certainly thrashed around his bed. Beads of sweat trickled down his forehead.

_When will I stop remembering? _He thought desperately. In his nightmare, he was brought again to the final moments of his wife and brother. This time, the three of them were in the same place, both dying at the same time in his arms despite his pleas for them to "hang on."

Horatio squeezed his eyes shut and lied back down. His body was still exhausted, but he found himself unable to face his nightmares anymore.

He did not know which was worse—to be conscious whilst carrying the pains of losses or to sleep with the nightmares of the past.

* * *

**A/N #2: **Please share your thoughts about this chapter with me! :)


	3. Chapter 2: The Fallout

**A/N: **Sorry it took me long to post this. Needless to say I struggled with this chapter in terms of both time and my Muse. Just a heads up: updates might not come as frequently as I'd like, but rest assured, I will do my very best to bring you through this piece :)

**Disclaimer: **I do not own CSI: Miami, or any of its characters, and some parts of this tale's plot which were lifted from the TV series.

* * *

**Together We Stand, Divided We Fall**

**Chapter Two: The Fallout**

* * *

Eric's eyebrows scrunched together in pain. The splitting headache he woke up into continued to persist while he drove for work. It was Monday, two days after he saw Calleigh, and the start of a new work week.

For a while he contemplated turning back home and skipping work altogether, but somehow, the thought of his brother-in-law managing to get back to work the morning after they returned from Rio pushed him to continue driving towards Miami-Dade Crime Lab.

_I'll take an aspirin once I get there, _Eric reassured himself.

After parking his car, Eric gave himself a little shake in an attempt to rid himself of the heavy burden he was carrying, even just for a day.

_Please let me do my work well today, _he silently prayed as he walked inside the building. He got to the break room ten minutes before their shift was supposed to start. So he took an aspirin and worked to refocus his thoughts on his job.

_For Marisol, _he thought. _It'll make her happier seeing me fighting criminals and bringing justice rather than seeing me mope around because of her death. _

With this resolve, Eric walked towards their Lab stations. He spotted Natalia analyzing trace evidence through a microscope and went inside the room.

"Hey Natalia," he greeted with a small smile.

Natalia looked up in surprise but smiled. "Eric! It's good to see you again!" She went over to him and gave him a comforting hug and a pat on the back.

"What are you working on? Has a call come up yet?" Eric asked in the hopes of avoiding her sympathetic gaze and the questions that were sure to come after.

Natalia took the hint and turned back her attention to the sample underneath her microscope. "No. I just got in early and decided to work on some of the old cases that were unsolved. You know, making use of the time wisely."

"I see. What case is that?"

"It's from three years ago. The district attorney didn't see the need to pursue the case further because of lack of substantial evidence. I'm hoping to find something in the evidences we got that will help the case move on," Natalia explained.

Before Eric could answer, Walter's booming voice permeated the room. "Delko! Welcome back! How are you holding up?" He stood beside Eric and waited expectantly for his answer.

"I'm doing all right, Walter. Just got a bad headache this morning," Eric answered shortly.

"Ah, well, take an aspirin for that. Anyway, since you two are early, I was wondering if you'd like to have breakfast in the break room."

"Sure," Natalia answered immediately. She carefully put the evidence back inside its container. "Come with us, Eric."

Eric shrugged and followed the pair outside the room. But before they even stepped on the threshold of the break room, Jesse came jogging up to them.

"Call came from bomb squad. A ticking time bomb has been found in an elementary school at Coral Gables. I already notified H, he's on his way there. Who wants to come with me?" he said urgently.

Eric and Walter immediately volunteered. Natalia decided to wait for Ryan and Calleigh so they could all go together to the scene if they were needed.

"And that's my hope for breakfast flying out of the window," Walter muttered as he jogged along with his colleagues out of the building.

Eric privately cracked a smirk at Walter's slight discouragement. He, on the other hand, welcomed the challenge with open arms. He needed his mind and body busy to keep him from drowning in his anguished thoughts.

* * *

Two blocks away from the elementary school, they found the students and teachers—along with other civilians who Eric figured were residents living near the school—gathered together in tight huddles. Some kids were crying, holding on to their teachers tightly. There were several uniformed police officers with them.

Jesse parked the car near the group and the three of them went up to the police officers. Then they heard a female voice crying out to an officer, "Please! Please let me go back inside the school! Three children from my class might still be inside!"

As the officer tried to dissuade the woman, Jesse interrupted and said, "Have you double-checked the children you have here?"

The woman turned her tear-streaked face to him. "Yes. After I counted them I remembered that three of my students got a hall pass to go to the bathroom about five minutes before the bomb was found. I thought they had come back inside the room when the alarm sounded, but when we got here, they're…they're…" She broke into hysterical cries. "Please! Let me go back there and get them!"

"All right, Ma'am, we will immediately notify the bomb squad to look for them inside. Please do not attempt to go in the building. The officers have got it under control."

The woman continued to cry and heave and they left a female police officer to look after her.

"H, this is Eric. A teacher said that three of her students might still be inside the school. They are missing from the group right now. I'm with Jesse and Walter, we're on our way there," Eric reported urgently on his radio.

"Copy that. I'm in the building with the bomb squad. We've already found and switched off the ticking bomb—it was near the principal's office at the third floor—but we're still clearing the place," Horatio responded. "Take some members of the bomb squad with you and find the children!"

Eric, Jesse and Walter were immediately granted entrance to the spacious elementary school after putting on safety suits. The three men and additional bomb squad officers went around the first floor of the huge building to look for the children. Two minutes later, an explosion that sounded like a firecracker came to their left. The sound reverberated off the walls, although it was not as loud as a standard-sized bomb. It was immediately followed by a scream nearby.

"H, an explosion came from the cafeteria area," Walter reported on his radio. "We heard a scream nearby. The bomb squad's going to the cafeteria with Jesse. Eric and I are looking for the source of the scream."

"Be careful!" came Horatio's commanding voice. "There might still be other bombs in place. Find the children immediately and evacuate the building!"

The tension was palpable. _Please don't let the children get hurt, _Eric found himself praying with all his might. He and Walter separated themselves as the other men ran ahead to the cafeteria. When they rounded a corner not too far from the cafeteria, a pitiful sight met them.

A little girl, about eight years old, was cowering against the dead-end corner. She held her knees close to her head. She was visibly shaking with fear, but her cries were silent.

Eric rushed to the girl and leveled with her. "Hey, sshh. It's all right now. We've got you."

The girl looked up at him in fear, her eyes as wide as saucers. But she immediately threw herself into Eric's arms and clung to him. "Pl-please get me out of here! M-my brother and his classmate…I think they're in the b-b-bathroom n-near our classroom at the s-s-second floor," she whimpered.

It took her a while to stand on her own feet, so Eric finally carried the girl. "Walter, try to find the other kids. I'll bring her outside. I'll come back in after."

Walter ran off to the stairs leading to the second floor with some members of the bomb squad and Eric brought the girl out. It took a while to get the little girl off Eric as she clung to him tightly. He did not miss the girl's cries for him to save her brother. "Don't forget my brother! Get him out of there!" She said between tears.

Eric's mouth set in a firm line. He vowed to bring back the girl's brother alive if it was the last thing he did. He quickly went inside the building. "Walter, where are you?" he asked his radio.

"I'm in the second floor bathroom. I found a boy here," he immediately answered.

"He's alone? Is he the girl's brother?"

"No. I'm bringing him outside. Look for the brother. The kid said the boy ran off to the cafeteria to find his sister when they heard the explosion go off."

_He should be around here. Why hasn't anyone seen him yet? _Eric thought it odd that the boy had not turned up yet. It didn't take that long to get to the dead-end corner from the stairs. Surely they should have crossed paths already while Eric brought the girl out?

He opened a door beside the stairs which he figured was a supply closet, and was surprised at what he saw: some small parts of a homemade bomb were strewn across the floor of the closet, along with duct and electric tapes.

Before he could fully take in what his instinct had tipped him off, an unfamiliar female voice crackled to life on his radio.

"A little boy is walking out of the building from the south exit! He's alone. We're going to get him… Oh my lord…"

When Eric heard the woman's trailing voice, his suspicion was confirmed—the perpetrators who had planted the bombs in the school had caught the girl's brother and put him inside the supply closet when he ran to find his sister. And now he might be wrapped in bombs and under the hostage-takers' mercy…

His voice finally catching up to him, Eric urgently contacted Horatio's radio. "H, I think one of the kids might be in trouble. I found a supply closet in the first floor where some bomb parts were left. There are duct tapes here too."

"Copy that. We're going down. I see the kid walking. He's covered in bombs with little blinking red lights. We might have to negotiate," came Horatio's subdued reply.

Eric gingerly walked towards the exit. He peered in the doorway before stepping off the threshold and saw that the girl's brother was indeed covered with small bombs. His back was turned to Eric, and he was still walking slowly towards the squad cars parked in front of the school.

Horatio came up behind Eric. "Don't move. Don't do anything, or they might blow up the kid. They'll make the kid talk for them," he commanded on his radio to all the police and bomb squad officers.

Sure enough, the little boy stopped a few yards away from the squad cars and spoke, his voice trembling. "Th-they said that th-they w-w-wouldn't blow m-me up if th-the police cleared th-the building a-and," he heaved as if he was about to bawl but immediately controlled himself (perhaps the perpetrators threatened to kill him if he cried too), "if P-p-principal Abbingt-ton t-talked to them a-alone in her of-fice."

The boy stood still after delivering the message. He was trying to stop himself from crying. Eric scanned the line of officers in front of the building and gave a small sigh of relief when he did not see the other two children among them. Then he looked at his boss.

Horatio's brow furrowed as he assessed the situation. They knew that the perpetrators were somewhere near, and can probably see their every move. He moved a little further inside the building and discussed their strategy with the head of the bomb squad.

_Please God. Let the boy live, _Eric prayed with all his might.

* * *

Ten minutes later, the police and bomb squad officers left the building. Principal Abbington was brought to the school. Her face was ashen and her hair was disheveled. She stared at her student, who was identified as Matthew Munroe, still covered with bombs in the school's front yard. She looked horrified and sickened.

Horatio forced her to look at him. "Ma'am, I'm Lieutenant Horatio Caine. I need you to keep your head. Take deep breaths."

Abbington did as she was instructed. "What do I have to do?"

"The perpetrators want you. If you talk to them in your office they'll let Matthew live. Now I must ask you this: Who would want to talk to you this badly? Surely this isn't a social call. There might be negotiations involved. It will help a lot if we know who we're dealing with here."

The suddenly weary-looking Principal shuddered and took another deep breath. She closed her eyes as she prepared to confess her story. "Before I came here at Coral Gables to teach, I was penniless. My father disowned me and threw me out of the house. So I…I got involved with a syndicate. We stole from homes here in Coral Gables. I was supposed to be their lookout here at the school, to provide them information about the students' families. But…I didn't keep my part of the plan. I never talked to them again after I got promoted as Principal. I thought they had finally cut me loose, but they came back. They came back for me." The last sentence was uttered in a near-whisper.

Horatio looked at her intently. Then he said, "Here's what I want you to do, Ma'am. Go inside the building and meet with them in your office. Wear this ear piece and cover it with—"

"No." Horatio was cut off by Abbington. "I'll go talk to them alone. I'll let them do whatever they want with me. I need to keep my students and staff safe, Lieutenant. And I know these guys. They_ will_ keep their part of the deal. For them it's keeping your word or death. I'm ready for them."

Before Horatio or anyone could stop her, Principal Abbington swiftly walked across the lawn and inside the building, careful not to go near Matthew for fear of endangering his life even more.

Stunned, Horatio turned to his group and said, "And now we wait. The blinking lights of the bomb on Matthew indicate that they are active. If they do keep their word, they should turn off the bombs as soon as they talk with Principal Abbington. Then the bomb squad can immediately remove them from Matthew and take him back to the other students. We go into the building after Matthew is safe and the bombs are deactivated."

It seemed a longer time, but only ten minutes had passed. No one had said a word after Horatio's command. They all listened intently for any signs of struggle inside the building and kept their eyes trained on Matthew and the school.

Suddenly, a gunshot was heard. Immediately after, the blinking red lights on Matthew's body disappeared. Horatio knew then that the gang had kept their word, so the bomb squad proceeded to remove the bombs off Matthew and easily deactivated them.

Horatio motioned for Eric, Jesse, Walter, and the other police officers to go inside the building with him. When they neared the principal's office in the third floor, two more gunshots fired. They all looked at each other and opened the unlocked door.

There they found Principal Abbington dead with a shot through her head. Two more men in masks lay in the floor, covered with their own blood. They each had a gun in their hand which Horatio figured they had used to shoot themselves in the head.

A police officer removed the masks and they saw two male teenagers. Both looked menacing with their masks on, but just like everyone else, they also looked fragile and vulnerable in death.

* * *

Later that day as their shift was about to end, Horatio's team gathered inside the layout room. Nothing much was exchanged between the group, each was minding his or her own thoughts. Admittedly, the day did not turn out the way they expected it to be, but it was still part of their job.

_All in a day's work, _Eric thought. It was then that he truly realized just how toxic his job as a C.S.I. can get. _I see people get killed almost every single day. I break the horrible news of their death to their loved ones and tell them that everything's going to be all right without really understanding how they felt. Well now I know how they feel. And it _does not _feel like "everything's going to be all right" again._

Eric's thoughts drifted to the siblings from the elementary school. _"Don't forget my brother! Get him out of there!"_ the girl had said. Although Eric was relieved that they were able to save all children, it also pained him to acknowledge the fact that he was able to save a stranger's sibling but he had failed to save his own sister.

_I'm sorry, Mari. I am so, so sorry, _Eric thought ruefully as he cradled his throbbing head in his hands.

Across from him Alexx also sat still, pondering over her own thoughts. Little children almost died today because their school and their parents failed to do a thorough background check on the person who was supposed to be watching over them. And the criminals were only teenagers. If their parents were able to really take care of them, they will not be part of a syndicate.

_Am I being too preoccupied with my work that I'm failing to take care of my own family, my kids? _An image of her two children flashed on Alexx's mind. Icy fear gripped her heart when she realized that the same thing can happen to her precious angels.

She had been contemplating for some months now about asking the Chief Medical Examiner for shorter dayshift hours. But now, confronted by this hard-hitting reality, Alexx wasn't so sure that she needed only shorter hours at work.

_I need to spend more of my time taking care of the living. _A certain resolution was starting to form in Alexx's mind.

At last Horatio entered the room. All looked up expectantly when he came in. He looked around and observed his weary soldiers.

"This time I want you to…I want you all to get a good rest. Don't think about this case or any other ones until tomorrow. Off you go."

Disbelief and then relief flashed in the faces of his team. Horatio smiled inwardly, pleased to have pleased them. _They deserve it. Hell, we _all _deserve a good rest._

And one by one, everyone left the layout room and called it a day.

* * *

**A/N #2: **Please tell me what you think about this chapter :)


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